GOP wants delay in health care mandate

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Framing a new argument against President Barack Obama's health care law, congressional GOP leaders called Tuesday for a delay in the law's requirement that individual Americans carry health insurance.

If the White House can grant a one-year delay for employers -- as the administration did just last week -- individuals should get the same consideration, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and other senior Republicans said in a letter to the president.

"Your decision to delay one part of the law affecting employers and leave in place provisions regulating individual and family health care creates many new questions and concerns," the GOP leaders wrote. "We agree with you that the burden was overwhelming for employers, but we also believe American families need the same relief."

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration has no intention of delaying the individual mandate. He said the law provides financial aid to low-income Americans and is flexible so that people facing financial hardships aren't punished for going without coverage.

Nonetheless, Republicans hope their new argument will gain traction in next year's congressional elections, as the law's big push to cover the uninsured gets underway. Foes are betting the coverage rollout will be full of problems, particularly since about half the states have refused to support the federal effort.

Under the law, middle-class people with no access to job-based coverage will be eligible for subsidized private insurance, while low-income uninsured people will be steered to an expanded version of Medicaid in states that accept it.

The health care law contains coverage requirements for individuals as well as companies with 50 or more workers. Both requirements were originally scheduled to take effect next Jan. 1.

Last week, the White House announced a one-year delay in the employer requirement, saying the administration needed more time to work out technical details that employers find too burdensome. Republicans have criticized the requirement on businesses as a "job killer."